Album of the Week: Maria Somerville - Luster

Staff Review:

Luster is the beautifully dreamy new album from Irish musician Maria Somerville. Released this week, it follows her quietly unveiled 2019 debut All My People, a record that, despite its understated release, earned deep acclaim from all who discovered it. Luster marks Somerville’s debut on the legendary independent label 4AD, and from the very first notes—gentle piano, reverb soaked waves of guitar, and breathy, ethereal vocals on the brief, sub two minute opener Réalt—it feels completely at home in the label’s storied catalogue.

As the album unfolds, it begins to echo the classic 1980s 4AD sound. The influence of the Cocteau Twins, arguably the label’s defining act, is immediately felt in the album’s soothing, delicate, and otherworldly sway. But Luster is far more than just homage. It gradually reveals itself to be one of the dreamiest dream pop records in recent memory, where even its more assertive moments, like the pulsing guitar motif of the standout Projections, the trip hop infused rhythmic tremor of Spring and Violet, or the slow motion churn of the brilliant Garden, are fully enveloped by the album’s lush sonic landscape.

Whether it is shimmering synthesizers, Kevin Shields like glide guitar, or vaporous ambient textures, each element contributes to a sense of weightless drift. Every track moves with a kind of uncanny lilt, a woozy, time slipping quality reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s early records, where everything feels like it is slowly drifting ever so slightly in and out of time.

While the most immediate touchstones may be the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, Luster also carries the spectral imprint of Slowdive’s soft focus shoegaze, the fractured post rock experiments of Disco Inferno, and the hazy ambience of artists like Grouper and Julianna Barwick, especially on the hymnlike Halo. There is also a trace of Julee Cruise’s ghostly collaborations with David Lynch, and echoes of the dreamlike, liminal worlds found in Julia Holter’s early albums. Elsewhere, on what is arguably the album’s most pop leaning track, Trip drifts with the kind of summer evening swoon that recalls The Sundays at their most radiant.

One of Luster’s greatest strengths is the way it unfolds patiently and naturally, revealing a work of remarkable nuance and honest emotional expression. Nothing here feels rushed or disposable. Each track flows into the next with quiet intention, creating a seamless arc that is as graceful as it is affecting. The production, led by Somerville herself alongside collaborators including Brendan Jenkinson (John Francis Flynn) and mixed by Gabriel Schuman, is exceptional. It balances the album’s gentle intimacy with its more expansive moments beautifully.

Where many dream pop or shoegaze records lean heavily into distortion to chase that blown out 90s aesthetic, Luster takes a different path where every sonic component is given equal care and presence. The result is a deeply immersive and distinctive entry into the dream pop canon, carving out a space that is entirely Somerville’s own.

Various Artists - The Hits Album: Later 70S

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